Pandemonium
by Crimson Breeze
Summary: A glimpse into Tyler's confused mind during the events of 2x13, Daddy Issues. Tyler/Caroline. One shot.


Disclaimer: I do not own the awesomeness that is The Vampire Diaries.

AN: Just so no one gets confused:

"_Quotes in italics is Tyler remembering people talking."_

_Italics that don't have quotation marks around them is Tyler's conscience yelling at/talking to him. So it's kind of like him talking to himself in a way._

This is third person focus on Tyler during 2x13.

* * *

Tyler stood in utter bafflement as the three vampires disappeared into the woods. He was in shock. He had absolutely no clue what had just transpired. One minute they were all in action and the next, they all were clutching their heads and screaming in pain. Why hadn't he been affected by whatever it was that man had been doing? He was a werewolf too so why hadn't he dropped like the others? Who was Elijah? What the heck did Elena have to do with this? He knew that she and Caroline were best friends but Caroline wouldn't share that kind of secret with anyone human….Would she?

Then again, Elena was Stefan's girlfriend. Was Elena a vampire too? Tyler's head was beginning to hurt. He was beyond freaked out by this whole situation. The stench of blood filled the air and he suddenly felt nauseous. He turned his head to look back at the trailer. Even her fingers had been covered in blood. He was sure that if he got closer he would find the red print of her tiny hand there on the wall of the trailer. He swallowed down the begun to form in his throat. She had been staring at him with pleading eyes as Jules pressed her blood covered body against the metal wall. Her frightened eyes had silently begged him to help her as the gun was jammed into the back of her neck. And he had just stared at the two. Guilt flooded through him. He turned towards Jules, who was lying face down in the ground. What had she done to Caroline? He had heard the blood curdling scream through the phone when she had called Stefan. Tyler took a deep breath in order to calm himself. And instantly regretted it. He nearly choked on the coppery scent that had permeated throughout the clearing. He was hating this werewolf thing more and more. But he also knew that he was stuck with this now. He slowly spun around in a circle, fully taking in the gory scene for the first time. There were a lot of them. He couldn't tell which ones were dead and which were still alive but he was sure that they could not all have survived, not with how much blood he could smell.

_Or maybe it's the smell of Caroline's blood that has gotten stuck in your nose._

He knew that voice. Tyler's conscience was always a thorn ebbing into his side. Usually he could ignore it but this time, he could do nothing but stand there feeling like an idiot. The image of Caroline locked in that cage stuck in his mind.

It was his fault. It was his fault that they had locked her up.

As soon as he hung up the phone, Stefan had turned on Tyler with fury in his eyes and had demanded to know what he had told Jules about Caroline and her whereabouts. The strange this was, Tyler had refused to talk to Jules about Caroline. Not even this afternoon, after he had confronted her. She had been his friend. He had a connection with her. She had been there for him. Nothing could change the fact that she was the only one that had been there for him in his darkest hour. He could not forget that fact. She had cared about him. Not because she had to or because she was following some weird code. She had simply done it because she wanted to help him when he needed help. There had been nothing in it for her. Hell, she should have stayed away from him. It was dangerous for her to be near him. But she had stayed with him up until the very last minute. He could not forget that. Caroline was the girl that he had known all his life. He knew her. Or at least, he thought he knew her. Either way, it didn't change the fact that she had saved him that night. She had anchored him and he couldn't forget that. It was why he had walked away from her that afternoon. No matter how angry he had been, he didn't want to hurt her and he knew that he probably might try to if he stayed. Tyler hated the tone that Jules' voice took on when she spoke of "the little blonde vampire". It reminded him of the way his mother had talked about Vicki. It didn't matter that Jules was a werewolf. He knew she was trying to comfort him but he did not want to be comforted by being told that his closest friend and confident was a liar and a murderer. It didn't matter that Jules was telling him that she wanted to help him. He didn't trust her. She claimed that she wanted to help him. He had no way to be sure of that. He had been betrayed by someone he had known for years. He was not about to take seriously the words of a complete stranger. But all of those things were on one side. And Caroline was on a side of her own. Caroline was not a topic of conversation that Tyler was open to discussing with anyone. Especially not someone who clearly despised her. Yes, he felt that she had betrayed him but no matter how much she might have hurt him, he was not going to talk about her with this stranger. He hadn't wanted to talk about her with Stefan either. Then again, Stefan was almost as much of a stranger to him as Jules was. They had never really even made small talk. Tyler had not particularly liked Stefan and now that he knew what he was and what he had done, he hated him, still he was smart enough to try to avoid the vampire if at all possible.

Last night, he could not believe anything Jules had told him about her but she had gone on talking even when he told her to stop and he could not get up to leave because she said she was a werewolf. Somewhere along the way, a small bit of what she was saying started to make sense. But still, he could not bring himself to doubt Caroline. Caroline, who had stayed with him during his transformation even though she knew that he could have killed her. She was his friend. But she had lied to him. She'd known all along that Mason was dead. And her vampire friends had killed him. She had told him that she was the only vampire in town. She had lied to him. That thought ran on repeat in his head. She lied.

Looking around himself, Tyler feels like he understands why she had kept so much from him. If this was the truth, if this was what really went on in Mystic Falls, then she had been very kind to keep him out of it for so long. Stefan had told him that Caroline had sent him to talk to Tyler and to explain. Had they been trying to avoid this? Did they know that this would happen? If he hadn't yelled for help into his phone when he recognized Jules number, would Caroline not have gotten hurt? Would this bloodbath not have happened? Probably.

Stefan's frustrated voice rings out in his memory. _"Dammit Tyler, I'm trying to save your life! Can't you see that?"_

Caroline.

She had walked right past him after Jules had fallen to the ground. He had been so angry with her this afternoon. Was she mad at him now? Did she think that he had had anything to do with her kidnapping? She couldn't possibly think that, could she? No matter how angry he might have been, he would never want any harm to come to her.

_You have a funny way of showing that. You stood there and did nothing when she was about to get shot. Again. For the nth time. Who knows how many times they shot her?_

Tyler shuts his eyes tightly and shakes his head to drive the voice from his mind.

Caroline's face comes back into his mind. Her voice was pleading and tears hade welled up in her eyes. _"Let me explain….Please."_

But he hadn't listened to her then. Instead he had walked away from her. But he was afraid that he would have hurt her if he had stayed. He had been too angry, too betrayed, too hurt. It was the first time he had ever felt so devastated. Now, he finds himself wishing he had stayed and listened to what she had to say. Maybe then, this blood bath could have been avoided. But she lied.

_So what if she lied? _

The voice is back.

_Does her lying constitute such punishment? Did she deserve to be locked in a cage and shot at just because she lied to you? And only so that you wouldn't have to witness this? She wanted to spare you the pain of your uncle's death. She wanted to protect you from __**all of **__**this**__. Are you really going to hold that against her?_

No. He is sure now, that despite her actions, her heart had been in the right place. The was it has always been. Tyler isn't mad anymore. Not at her. He's scared. He's confused and _God_, he _misses_ her. He wants to go to her and talk about this. He wants to knock on her door and let her hold him and comfort him and tell him that everything will be alright the way she always does.

_They were torturing her and you want __**her**__ to comfort __**you**__? Are you out of your fucking mind? What the hell is wrong with you? How heartless can you be?_

The coppery sting itches his throat again and he realizes that he is taking short, quick breaths. He's practically hyperventilating.

He needs to get out of here. He needs to get out of this clearing and away from these werewolves right now. He needs to go and find Caroline. He needs to know that she's alright. A groan to his right causes his head to snap to the side.

Jules brings a hand up to her head and sits up, wincing.

"Ugh. What happened?" She looks up at Tyler from her kneeling position on the ground.

"Where'd they go? What happened?" she repeats.

He hears another groan and he looks in front of him to see the man that had asked who had killed Mason getting up.

"Damnit!" the man swears as he pounds the dirt with his fist.

"They got away!"

Jules' lips press together in a straight line. She looks annoyed with her situation.

"We'll get them, Brady. Don't you worry. They're going to pay for this. All three of them."

Tyler's stomach turns.

"Tyler." When she speaks to him, her voice holds none of the previous irritation or anger that it had possessed when talking about the vampires. It's that same tone that she had used earlier. It is almost motherly but she is not his mother. It creeps him out how her voice goes from holding so much contempt to nothing but concern in less than a second. Tyler assumes it's meant to be soothing or understanding or whatever other emotion she is trying to convey. It doesn't seem genuine. She's trying too hard. Why the hell is she being so nice to him? Why had she gone to such lengths to get him back? What does she want?

"Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Caroline's tiny frame flashes across his mind's eye and he feels anger flare up inside him as he remembers the sound of the gun going off. He had been able to hear it through the phone and he could smell the blood on Caroline when she passed him. He had seen the red stain on her forehead. His fists clench and unclench as he tries in vain to calm himself.

Screw it.

He turns on his heels so he is fully facing Jules and glares. Whatever had been caught in his throat is now gone and he has finally found his voice again. He doesn't bother to answer her questions.

"What did you do to Caroline?" he demands. Out of habit, his arms come up to cross across his chest and he sets his feet a foot apart. For a moment, his confidence and 'don't-mess-with-me' attitude is back. He is pissed off and he wants answers.

The man laughs a bitter laugh and Tyler's confidence and anger quickly decrease as his confusion takes over once again.

"The vampire? She got what was coming to her." He says with a cocky smirk.

Tyler feels like an invisible hand has grabbed the knot in his stomach and then pulled. He starts feeling sicker and sicker.

"It looks like you're okay. I'm glad. I was worried about you." Tyler turns to Jules as she stands and walks up to him. He says nothing. She's trying to brush this off. She raises her hand to touch his shoulder and Tyler's body reacts even before his mind fully processes what is happening. His arm shoots up and knocks her wrist, pushing her hand away before her fingers make contact with his jacket.

Jules opens her mouth and looks like she is about to say something but then she presses her lips together again and pulls her hand back. She looks at him with that same patient and knowing expression that she keeps giving him and Tyler's discomfort intensifies.

"I've never met a vampire that could do that before." Tyler turns back to Brady. He decides to give them the message and then high tail it out of there.

Jules has turned her attention to Brady as well. She is about to speak but Tyler starts talking before she can blame anything else on anyone. Caroline.

"There was a man." Two pairs of eyes stare at him.

"He…He was doing…something… I don't know what… but they didn't look like they had been expecting him either." Tyler decides it would be best not to mention Elena at the moment. Especially if it might not be the same Elena he's thinking about. Not that it really matters. He is not going to spend more than half a mintue of this night thinknig about Elena Gilbert.

"He told them to get out of here and then he told me to tell you…" Tyler hesitates. He doesn't want to piss them off especially when they had seemingly done this because they thought he was in trouble.

_You couldn't just talk your way out of it with Stefan? Is this the way you're going to be from now on? Always needing someone to help you 24/7? You're pathetic._

Tyler takes a deep breath. The only person he has ever admitted to needing is Caroline.

"That you need to get out of town." He lets out in a breath and he is glad that his voice doesn't sound as shaky and hesitant as he feels. Caroline.

Brady scoffs.

"This is one crazy ass town." He says as he stands up. He kicks the dirt with his foot.

"We should have been more careful, they could have killed us while we were out." Jules says to Brady.

This is true. Tyler realizes. But they had walked away. Why? Damon had looked at Jules with murderous intent. Why had they walked away?

"_It doesn't have to get any messier than it already has."_

Stefan had only been trying to reason with him and he had tried to reason with Jules as well. Not once had he told Tyler that he would actually harm him. He looks at Jules and Brady. They had wanted to kill all three of them. All **three** of them. Caroline.

"Were you really going to kill them?" Tyler asks her. This time his voice shakes slightly.

_Why are you asking, you idiot? Isn't the answer obvious enough? You're just hoping she'll say no but even if she did, you know that she'd be lying._

Jules turns to him. His arms have come back down to his sides but she had brought her arms across her chest when she was talking to Brady.

"Of course, Tyler." She speaks as if he has asked her to confirm that the sky is indeed blue. As if the idea of killing them is the most natural thing in the world and that there is nothing wrong with it. And then he remembers her talk about natural enemies. He needs to get out of here. But he can't. Not yet.

"You were gonna kill Caroline?" He can hear the distress in his voice but he doesn't care if he comes off looking weak right now.

"She's a vampire, Tyler. She needs to die." Jules responds and she looks like she is trying to get Tyler to understand that Caroline being a vampire is a good enough reason to kill her.

"She's my **friend**." Tyler argues, trying to get through to Jules that he doesn't approve of what she had done tonight.

"**I'm** your friend, Tyler. **We** are your friends." Jules says with a shake of her head as she nodds to the others that are getting back on their feet. People Tyler has never met before. People whose names he doesn't know. People who had risked their lives to get him. Some of them were still on the ground though. Tyler knows that they're dead.

"Those vampires? They can't be trusted. They're dangerous and you need to stay away from them. You need to come with us, Tyler."

He turns to her. There she goes again, asking him to leave his life behind and run away with her.

_This woman is insane._

He's beginning to wonder.

His face must show his uneasiness because she reaches out for him again.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in-"she begins but he steps backwards out of her reach. She stops.

When she speaks again, some of her agitation comes through in her voice.

"Tyler, she got her vampire friend to kidnap you!" she exclaims and she's looking at Tyler like he is being extremely unreasonable.

"Stefan didn't do anything to hurt me! He came to my house. He was telling me that he had nothing against me and that he and Caroline didn't want to fight." Tyler can't believe that he is actually defending Stefan but right now, he can't help but feel like Jules had gone overboard with her ambush and exterminate plan.

"And you believed him?" Jules asks incredulously.

Tyler doesn't feel like talking to her about his conversation with Stefan. Mostly because a good part of it had been focused on Caroline. Secondly, he knows that she is not going to see things his way and third, he does not particularly want to defend the vampire brother of the vampire that has killed his uncle.

He decides to change the subject.

"What did you do to Caroline?" he asks again even though he is afraid to know the answer.

Brady answers him casually.

"Shot her a few times with some wooden bullets, squirted some vervain in her face, among other things." His tone is conversational. Tyler's head spins.

"Vervain?" He asks shakily.

"Have you ever come across wolfs bane?" Jules asks.

Tyler almost gags.

"Let me guess." He says breathlessly, he half laughs because his body is shaking with the idea of how much they must have hurt her. He thinks me might go insane.

"It's like wolfs bane for vampires?" He questions already knowing the answer. She nods.

Tyler suddenly has an impulse to lunge at her and rip her throat out.

Oh, God. Caroline.

He needs to find her. He needs to apologize. He needs to make sure she's alright. If anything happened to her-

_What? What if something happened to her?_

She is his lifeline. She has become the air that he breathes. She was the only thing that hand kept him sane. It was because of her that he was still holding on. It was because of her that he hadn't offed himself after that horrible transformation. She is **everything**.

_Oh! So, the only reason she needs to be alive is because __**you**__ need her. It's not like she has a right to live or anything. No, she's just supposed to live for you. Be there for you to make you feel better whenever you need someone. It's natural that she would risk her life for you. Tonight, she almost __**died**__ because of you._

Stop it.

_And what did you do? What have you ever done for her? You don't deserve her kindness. You never ever deserved her love. You don't deserve her friendship. After tonight, you don't even deserve to be anywhere near her._

Shut up!

He knows he didn't deserve her kindness. And kind was all she had ever been to him. She hadn't deserved such harsh treatment.

_Dick._

"Tyler?" Jules' voice cuts through his mental struggle. He snaps his head up to look at her. He's breathing hard.

"Are you okay?" she asks in that same too concerned voice.

No.

Tyler shakes his head from side to side, his eyes wide. She reaches out to touch his arm again but he takes another step back.

"Look, why don't you go home and rest. We'll talk tomorrow, okay." She's giving him his space.

Without another word, Tyler slowly takes a few more steps back then he turns and walks as quickly as he can out of the clearing.

When he is sure that he's out of sight and that they aren't following him, he brakes out into a run.

His skin is prickling but at the same time he feels numb. The wind is cool against his face and swooshes in his ears as he runs at an inhuman speed with one destination in mind.

He stops in front of her house. The hallway light is on. She's home and she's still awake. The sheriff's car is absent from the driveway. He takes in a deep breath to calm himself. He has to let her know that he never meant for her to get hurt. He needs her to tell him that she'll be alright. That **they** will be alright.

He slowly walks up the steps and knocks quickly and lightly on her door. He knows he doesn't have to knock any more or any louder. She'll hear it.

It takes her longer to answer than it should. She comes out of her room and leans over to look through the glass. Her brows knit together when their eyes meet. For a moment, she stands there and it seems like she might go back inside and not even come to the door but then she moves forward and he holds his breath as the door is opened.

Even with her hair a complete mess and her eyes still somewhat darkened by the mascara that she had probably been too tired to completely wash off, she is the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. She's absolutely stunning but he can't be stunned by her beauty right now. She hasn't changed yet. And now, with her jacket gone and the porch light on, he can see clearly the blood stains all over her. His heart hurts. She's covered in blood, but she keeps her head up. She looks so dignified, standing there like that. There is an air of regality about her and it makes him feel lower than low.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly, urgently. There's so much he wants to say but at the moment, that's all he can manage. He needs her to say yes even though she looks like hell, even though it's beyond obvious that she is **not** okay.

For a moment, she says nothing, just stares at him scornfully. He's nervous and he wants to say something to make her understand how sorry he is that this happened to her.

"I'm fine." She responds coldly. She says it as if she wants to spite him by letting him know that she's alright. As if she thinks that it would give him pleasure to know that she was hurt. The ice in her voice cuts him. She's never spoken to him like that before. He doesn't think he's ever seen or heard her behave so coldly to anyone.

"I had no idea they would come for you." he explains. She has always understood him without him having to say much. He hopes the words are at least enough for her to warm up to him a little. Her eyes are brimming and she looks like she might cry.

"Do you know what they did to me?" Her voice quivers when she responds and cracks at the last word.

His stomach is in knots again. His heart is beating faster. She is in so much pain and he feels like it's all because of him.

Her tear filled eyes are screaming at him and though she doesn't speak, he can hear her voice saying the words in his mind. Or maybe it's his guilt talking but the words ring aaccusingly in his head all the same.

Why didn't you help me?

"Sorry." He manages to whisper out. There's a lump forming in his throat. He doesn't like the way this conversation is going. She's mad at him. He can see that. She needs to forgive him. He needs her to forgive him. He wants to tell her that they can start over. He wants her to know that he doesn't want to lose her. That he can't lose her. They've both hurt each other but they can get past this. He has to get her to see that. He tries to reason with her.

"But it's crazy now. Okay, I don't know who to trust. And you lied to me."

Even as he's saying the words, he feels like an idiot.

He's about to say more, try to explain himself, tell her that she's the one that he wants to put his faith in but she cuts him off.

"I lied" she pauses and he doesn't know if it's because it hurts her to say it or if she is forced to stop because she's trying to keep her tears at bay.

"to protect my friends." Those words sting. Isn't he included in that list? So she was just pretending to be his friend? He thought they had something. Her voice is shaking but she continues.

"I lied" she has to stop again and her next words fill him with regret.

"to protect **you**. Don't you get that?"

She looks so hurt by the fact that he hadn't understood that from the beginning. She says it like he's an idiot for not understanding from the beginning. And he feels like an idiot. Because after what he has just witnessed, he understands exactly why she had kept it all a secret from him. She was just trying to keep him safe. She kept all the other vampires away from him. She created a safe place for him where he didn't have to watch his back, where he didn't have to worry that someone was going to come after him. She protected him. Not just physically but mentally as well.

But why? Why did she go so far to keep him out of harms way?

"Caroline-" but before he can ask, she cuts him off again and the pain in her voice hurts him as well. She's furious.

"You just stood there! When they were going to **kill** us, you just stood there! You didn't do **anything**!"

He doesn't want to fight with her. He can't stand her yelling at him. He can't handle the way she's looking at him. He has to get her to see things his way.

"I didn't know what to do!" his voice is soft and desperate at the same time as he tries to reason with her. He wants her to know that he's not trying to make excuses; he doesn't want to fight with her. He can't bring himself to yell at her even though she's yelling at him now.

The voice in his head starts to scream at him at the same time that she does.

"You help your friend! That's what you do!"

_**You stupid, idiotic, moronic, douchebag!**__ How could you not know that? How could you not help her? How could you just stand there and watch that woman pressing a gun to the back of her neck and not push her off? How dare you say something like that to her! How can you stand here and see her looking so broken and make excuses for yourself? You should be comforting her the way she comforted you! Remember that, asshole? The worst night of your life? The one she spent holding you even though she knew that you could kill her with just one bite? How can you want her to comfort you after what she's been through tonight? Are you really that selfish? Are you really so heartless and self-absorbed that you can't see anyone else but yourself?_

The truth is that in a very short time, she has become more dear to him that anyone else has ever been. He loves this girl. He needs to tell her that. He needs her to know that he doesn't want anything to change between them, that he doesn't want to lose her. Ever. But first he needs to get her to calm down enough to listen.

"I'm sorry" he begins desperately but she interrupts him again. She doesn't want to hear it anymore.

"No, it's too late." She says as her head shakes from side to side indicating that she isn't going to accept his apology this time.

He shakes his head as well. He knows where this is going. This has happened to him plenty of times before but he never thought that it would happen wither her. It's different with her. He can't bear to lose her. Her next words cause his heart to beat so fast he thinks it might burst out of his chest. When she speaks, his breath catches in his throat.

"Cause we're not friends anymore."

No. Don't say that. Don't say that, I can't lose you! I need you. Please, please, don't turn your back on me.

But he can't speak. Her words and the pained look on her face show him just how much he deserves what she is doing to him right now.

"And what happened to me tonight, that will **never **happen again." She promises. She is so, so angry. And he can't blame her. Can't say anything that will fix this. Her words are hurting him like nothing and no one else ever has before. But she's not done yet.

"So you take that back to your little werewolf pack-" NO!

His werewolf pack? By no way or means whatsoever is he a part of that gang. He tries to tell her that but his voice has stopped working again.

-"and you get the hell out of my house!" Her voice shakes but her resolve is as strong as steel and in that shaky voice is disgust to match the look of loathing on her face as she slams the door in his face for the second night in a row. Only this time, it's not because she's flustered or because he's caught her off guard or because he's surprised her. She hates him.

Pain. A pain like no other envelopes him but not before the shame washes over him.

He knows that he should have helped her. He knows that he shouldn't have come here and tried to excuse himself. He knows that what happened to her tonight is entirely his fault.

He stands in shock. He hadn't thought her capable of such negativity and iciness. Had he brought this out? Had they? Was her reaction a result of him or was she just lashing out because they had hurt her and she needed to vent? He knows it's the former.

His hesitation is what got to her. He had actually stopped to think about letting her out of the cage when he ran into the trailer. He had stood and stared as Jules pushed her against the trailer with the gun to her neck. He had watched as she silently begged him to help her with tear filled eyes and he had stared back, motionless and mute.

He doesn't deserve her forgiveness. He turns away and leaves her house as quickly as he can, not wanting to cause her any more pain than he already has.

He ends up back at the clearing. He doesn't know why he's here. He feels like he's betraying her just by coming near the people that had caused her so much pain. But he's confused and he doesn't want to be alone.

Everyone seems to think that he's associating himself with them now: Caroline, the creepy voodoo man, Jules.

"_So you take that back to your little werewolf pack and you get the hell out of my house!"_

"_When your friends awaken, give them this message: They need to get the hell out of this town."_

"_We__ are your friends Tyler."_

He doesn't consider them his friends. But he doesn't think they're his enemies either. He has no idea what to do and Caroline won't talk to him. He needs answers. He needs someone to tell him that this isn't what his life is going to be like from now on. They are the only ones he can turn to. And so, even as his conscience screams the word traitor at him over and over again-which he manages to ignore- he goes into the trailer and makes nice with the two people that had spent the night torturing his best friend.

He realizes it's time to leave when Jules tells him that he's welcome to stay the night. He tells her he doesn't want his mother to worry and leaves. Part of him wants to stay because he's worried that Damon might be at his house waiting to kill him when he gets home but another part of him thinks that if he falls asleep in that trailer, he'll wake up the next morning in a different state, hundreds of miles from Mystic Falls.

He goes home and goes straight up to the attached bathroom in his bedroom. No matter how hard he tries, he can't stop replaying his conversation with Caroline over and over again in his head. Her voice echoes in his ears as he showers. He face fills his vision everytime he closes his eyes. He shouldn't have left. He should have stayed and tried to patch things up with her. But as usual, he messed it up. As usual, he let go of a relationship that he doesn't want to lose. He is such an idiot.

He doesn't feel the slightest bit comforted after talking to Jules and Brady and he wonders if he'll ever be at ease again.

Guilt eats away at him as he pulls his clothes on. He tries to think about something else but everything seems like his fault.

With a sigh, he sits down on his bed and puts his head in his hands.

The moon stone. What was so important about it? Why had Mason wanted it so badly? Why hadn't Tyler pushed to get more information out of Mason before he got killed? Why had he even bothered to go looking for the stone at all? Mason would never have thought to look for secret compartments in the floor. Why couldn't Tyler have just minded his own business? If he had maybe all this could have been avoided.

"_Hey Mason, you got a second?"_

"_Nah man, barbecue at Jenna Summer's house."_

"_Come on, man, give me two minutes, alright? You can't keep dodging me. I'm freaking out over here!"_

"_Tyler! What do you want me to say, man? Yes, I turn into a wolf. No, it's not gonna happen to you."_

"_How do you know that?"_

"_Because you're not gonna trigger the curse. Your dad didn't know anything about any of this and neither did I 'til it happened to me."_

"_How does it get triggered?"_

"_Ignorance is bliss. Trust me."_

"_You blow back into town with some supernatural family secret and you expect me not to ask questions?"_

"_I can't say anything more. I'm sorry, Tyler. It's just better for you if I don't."_

"_You ever find that moon stone?"_

"_Do you know where it is?"_

"_What's so special about it?"_

"_I told you. It was my mom's. Sentimental. Look- just- don't worry about it. Forget I even brought it up, alright? See you later."_

Tyler takes in a shaky breath trying to calm himself.

"_How was that barbecue?"_

"_Not great. You still pissed?"_

"_You still keeping secrets?"_

"_Yup."_

"_Then I'm still pissed. Hey, you know, I was thinkin'…about that stone you're looking for. I might know a couple places it could be."_

"_Do you think this is a joke? If you know where it is then, tell me."_

"_Tell me how the curse is triggered."_

"_Well, if I tell you, you won't be able to think about anything else and I don't want that for you."_

"_I think I can handle knowing."_

"_Yeah, you think you can handle it, tough guy? You have __**no**__ idea."_

"_You want your stupid rock or not!"_

"_Tell me where it is!"_

"_Tell me what triggers the curse!"_

"_You have to kill somebody! Human blood! You take another person's life away from them, then the curse is yours forever! Can you handle that?"_

Tyler let out the breath he had been holding as more conversations flashed through his mind.

"_On every full moon, I lose control. If I don't sedate myself and chain myself down, I'll kill anything in my path. You have to be careful. All it takes is an accident, a car wreck. Any death at your hands, and you'll have a life time of this. You don't want it, Tyler, trust me."_

"_Listen, if you know something, you gotta tell me. Because I can't handle this."_

"_I'm sorry, Tyler but I think that you're still in shock over Sarah dying. And it's understandable."_

"_Stop lying!"_

"_I'm not lying!"_

"_Just say it!"_

"_I'm not a werewolf! Okay?"_

"_How can you be a vampire?"_

"_How can you be a werewolf?"_

"_Who else is like you?"_

"_Just me. It's a really long story. We can share another time. Uhm, how many other werewolves are there?"_

"_Just me. And my uncle Mason but he left town."_

"_Look, Tyler, you can't tell anyone. Okay, not about you, not about me, no one will understand."_

"_I know."_

"_I wanna tell you…About…my mom- and yours- and the founding families and the council! But I **need you** to promise me- **no one **will find out about us. This is __**life and death**__, Tyler."_

Mason was right. Tyler had had no idea what he had been getting himself into and he hadn't fully comprehended how serious Caroline had been when she had said life and death. Ignorance really was bliss. He misses the blissful safe haven that Caroline had created for him.

"_I lied to protect **you**. Don't you get that?"_

"_Tyler, look out!"_

"_Matt and I were fighting. We broke up, you know, and Sarah was drunk and dancing and she- she just tripped. Then she wasn't breathing."_

"_What are you doing?"_

"_I'm fixing a very bad situation."_

"_Why? __**I**__ did this. __**I **__killed her."_

"_No! You didn't mean to. And I think it's best for everyone-"_

"_But she's dead! You don't know what that means."_

"_Actually, Tyler, I think I do."_

"_No, you don't, Caroline."_

"_Has your wound healed?"_

"_How did you..?"_

He feels tears sting his eyes.

"_Why are you helping me?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Why do you care? We've never been friends before."_

"_That's not true. I've known you my entire life, Tyler. I-"_

"_We've never been close. Not like this."_

"_I don't know. You just seem like you- like you kinda need it."_

_"I just don't understand one thing."_

_"What?"_

_"Why would you risk it? If a werewolf bite kills a vampire, why would you risk it?"_

_"Um, because...you needed help."_

_"I could have killed you."_

_"But you didn't."_

_"You know- I don't undetstand you, Caroline."_

_"Why is it so hard for you to let someone else help you?"_

_"Well, that's not it."_

_"Yeah it is, Tyler! It's like you don't want anyone to care about you. and I'm sorry, I cared. I care, Tyler so forgive me if I overstepped my boundaries by actually giving a-"_

No one had ever said something like that to him before. He couldn't remember a time when someone told him that they cared about him.

It was then that he had decided. He had been so sure that she was the one. She was like a guardian angel. Now, it seems even more true than it had before. She had tried so hard to protect him, to kep him safe. She had done so much for him.

_And what did you do when she needed help? _

The voice of his conscience rings out accusingly in his head. He can't ignore it this time.

"_You just stood there! When they were going to kill us, you just stood there! You didn't do anything!"_

"_I didn't know what to do!"_

"_You help your friend! That's what you do!"_

She had always been there for him. She had always helped him even when he didn't really need her to. Even when it was just her trying to patch things up between he and Matt. She had always been there. So why wasn't she here now?

"_No, it's too late. Cause we're not friends anymore."_

Tyler collapses onto his side and curls up in a ball as the tears flow down his cheeks. Regret and guilt flood through him and his body shake with his sobs.

"_I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to be alone."_

He wishes Mason was here to explain things to him. He wishes he could call Caroline and hear her honey sweet voice tell him that everything was going to be okay. That he isn't alone. That he'll get through this. They had both been protecting him. He wishes he had let them. He wishes they were both here with him now. He wishes he wasn't so alone.

But alone is exactly what he is now_._

Shutting his eyes tightly, he tries to imagine the feel of Caroline's cool hand on his forehead. It's not enough. She isn't really here with him and pretending like she is only makes him miss her more.

Panting, he opens his eyes and they land on his cell phone resting on his side table. His mind goes blank. He can think of nothing but her face as he reaches out a shaking hand and then quickly dials her number.

He stands up on shaking legs and paces in front of his bed as the phone rings. With each ring, his heartbeat accelerates and the knot in his stomach grows tighter. After what seems like an eternity, her bubbly voice chirs into his ear. For half a second he feels a small bit of hope but it dissipates as quickly as it comes.

"It's Caroline. Leave a message."

She wouldn't take his call. Of course she was ignoring him. She had made it very clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him. The sound of the beep frustrates him so much that he thinks he can actually feel his blood bubbling. The pain in his chest comes crashing back. With as much force as he can muster, he whirls around and slams the phone downwards. It lands on the bed with a thud.

Tyler takes in another ragged breath and then falls to the floor as the tears pour down his cheeks. He can't stop thinking about her. He can't get the image of her teary eyes out of his mind. He is more confused than ever but it doesn't even matter right now. All he wants right now is to feel her body next to his. He's falling apart and he needs her arms around him to keep him together. He is lost and broken without her.

She'll never let him touch her again.

In a vain hope to forget his problems, Tyler turns off the dim bedside lamp and climbs into his king sized bed. After hours of tossing and turning, he finally manages to fall asleep.

He dreams of shiny blonde hair that looks like spun gold and green eyes brimming with tears and snaps awake the next morning to the sound of Caroline screaming and gun shots ringing in his mind.

* * *

AN: I think this is the longest thing I have ever written. I LOVE Forwood. And Tyler and Caroline are what have kept me watching TVD. This is my first Vampire Diaries fiction. I hope I did it justice. I was screaming at the tv when I was watching this episode for the first time. And I'm really mad at Tyler right now. Poor Caroline. He should have helped her! Still I'm not willing to give up on them. these two desrve to be happy adn they are soooo good together! I hope Damon rips Jules' heart out. Please tell me what you thought of it. Please review?


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